PLAINFIELD — Members of the faculty and staff at Goddard College have issued a solidarity statement after the announcement that President Barbara Vacarr will step down in December.

In July, the school said Vacarr would be leaving to deal with family issues, including her daughter’s health after giving birth.

The statement signed by 142 staff and faculty members embraces the presidential transition and calls upon the board of trustees to “engage with a full range of college constituencies.”

The steps the statement asks the board to take up include: “refocus college resources and priorities to offer maximum support to our academic programs; restore confidence in financial leadership by creating a credible plan to improve enrollment, replacing expensive outside consultants with abundant in-house talent, and taking other needed steps to reduce administrative overhead; encourage open debate about college policies while refraining from actions, such as the monitoring of employee emails, that cast a chilling effect on healthy discussion; recommit to faculty shared governance over academic matters, including curriculum and restructuring.”

The faculty and staff are currently negotiating union contracts — a renewal for the faculty and a first contract for the staff after voting to unionize in January. Both faculty and staff are members of UAW Local 2322 based out of Massachusetts.